Back washer



Jan. 23, 1940. B. E. LARGE 2,187,977

WASHER Filed nec. 5. 193s .,IY ,J lNvENToR. YJ# A BerlL E. Larg@ r/ ,"4 I8 k Patented Jan. A23, 1940 UNITED STATES PATE-NT OFFICE 6 Claims.

The present invention is concerned with a back washer and more particularly with a back brush attachment for a bath tub'.

The difficulties encountered by a bather inwashing his back are well known. While special long handled brushes are provided for this purpose, these brushes are, nevertheless, extremely inconvenient to use. Because of this, Various forms of attachments for bath tubs' have been providedl for this purpose.

have been undesirable either because of the amount of space inthe bath tub taken by the attachment, the awkward manner in which these attachments must be manipulated, or the com.-

ll plication thereof. For the above reasons, these attachments have not gone into general use.

An object'of the present invention is to provide a back washer attachment of improved design that, except for the washer itself, extends closely adjacentthe edge of the tub and is convenient to use. 1 p

A further object of the invention is to provide a back washer which is relatively balanced in construction so that the only weightV which must be actuated is that of the brush itself, as

in the case of the ordinary hand brush.

A further object of the invention is to provide a back washer which is extremely simple in `construction and which is readily clampedon any r type 0f tub.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying specification, claims, and f drawing of which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a bath tub to which is secured the improved back washing attachment and in which is seated a bather using the attachment, Figure 2 is an elevational view vof the back washer attachment with a portion of the side of a bath tub shown in transverse section, and

in which `Figures 3 and 4 are detail views, of alternative forms of the clamp forming a part of theattachment. g' Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral I0 is employed to designate a bath tub shown in longitudinal section in' Figure 1. The

tub is of the conventional'type having a rolled rim II and suitable supporting members I2 and la.

These attachments knob I1 rotatably secured to one end thereof and is bent at its otherend to provide a transversely extending portion I8 on which is secured a brush I9 or other suitable back washing device.

lThe form of the clamp shown in Figure 2 is 6 illustrated in somewhat greater detail in Figure 3. As best shown in that figure, the clamp comprises a curved upper portion 2I, a flat side porw tion 22, an inturned lower fiange portion 23,

lprovides space between the clamp and the tub 2() for the inner head of the rivet 30 and decreases the possibility of injury to the tub arising from careless application of the clamp thereto.

Secured on theinner surface of the curved portion of the clamp are a pair of felt strips 32. 25 These felt strips engage the upper curved surface of the rolled edge II as indicated in Figure 2. A thumb screw 34, provided with the usual thumb piece 35 extends through theflange 23 and carries a 'bearing plate 31 at its upper end. 30 A block of wood 38 bears against the under suriace of the rolled edge II, the block being curved in conformity with the curvature of edge II.

The knob I1 is a relatively flat spheroid and is pivotally secured to the rod I6 by a rivet B0, or 35 other suitable fastening means. A spacer Il is interposed between the knob I1 and the rod IB to facilitate free rotation of knob I1. It will be noted that the knob I1, by reason of its relatively flat form projects only slightly from the rod I6. 40 It will further be noted that rod I6 extends closely adjacent the side of the tub IIJ, and this is true 'regardless of the angular position of rod I6.

The brush I9 `may be detachably secured in 45 any conventional manner to the transversely extending portion of rod I6 to permit the substitution of other brushes or other washing appliances. A A It will be noted that the distance of 'knob I'1 50 from the axis of rotation of rod I5 is substantially the same as the distance of the brush surface from such axis of rotation. This feature has a dual function. In the first place, the linear motion of the brush corresponds in magnitude to the linear motion of the knob producing it, and thus results in a more natural action. It will be obvious that, if the motion of the brush is much greater than the motion of the knob or vice versa, it will be extremely difficult for the bather to become accustomed to the operation. of the device. In the second place, this feature results in the device being substantially balanced except for the greater weight of the brush with respect to the knob. Thus in eiect, the only weight the bather is moving is that of the brush itself. This results in little physical eiort being necessary to operate the device, and also results in the operation being more analogous to that in which a brush is used directly. "I'his again, in-

creases the ease with which the bather may become accustomed to the use of the device.

In Figure 1, the device is shown in actual use by a bather designated by the numeral 45. It can be readily seen from this figure that the back brushing operation is extremely simple and natural. It will furthermore be seen that the arcuate p'ath of the brush roughly corresponds to the curvature of the back so as to require a minimum amount of shifting of the body.

The clamp shown in Figures 2 and 3 is the one most adapted for use on a bath tub having a rolled rim. The clamp shown in Figure 4 is used in connection with a square edge bath tub. This clamp comprises two inverted L-shaped clamping members 41 and 48. The horizontal legs of the clamping members are superimposed. The horizontal leg of clamping member 48 is provided with a slot 49. A thumb screw 5l) extends through this slot and into a threaded aperture of the horizontal leg of clamping member 41. The inner face of the vertical leg of clamping leg 48 is provided with a felt facing 5|. A leaf 52 of resilient metal is secured at its center to the inner face of the vertical leg of clamping member 41, and secured to this leaf is a felt facing 53. The vertical leg of clamping member 41 is provided with two ears 54 through which extend thumb screws 55. This vertical leg of clamping member 41 is also provided with a boss 51 corresponding to the boss 21 of the other form of the clamp. It is to be understood that the rod I6 is connected to boss 51 in the same manner-A gether so as to loosely engage the opposite sides of the side wall of the bath tub. The thumb screw 50 is then tightened, and the two thumb screws 55 are screwed inwardly to complete the clamping action. The screwing in of these thumb screws forces the resilient leaf 52 inwardly, pressing the felt 53 against the side of the tub. It will be noted that both clamping surfaces have a felt facing so that there is no danger of injury to the finish of the tub.

It will be seen that I have provided a new and novel back washer attachment which is extremely simple in construction. The construction is such, lmoreover, that' it is extremelyv easy to become accustomed to the use of the attachment.

While I have shown certain specific embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that this is only for purposes of illustration, and that the invention is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A bath .brush attachment comprising a alsace? clamp adapted to engage the side of a bath tub. a rod pivoted to said clamp at a point such that when said clamp is secured to a tub said rod extends substantially its full length closely adjacent the side of the tub to which said clamp is secured, said rod being pivotably movable about an axis substantially transverse to said rod in a substantially vertical plane extending longitudinally of the tub, said rod being provided with a handle portion and a portion disposed transversely with respect to the remainder thereof, and a brush secured to said transversely extending portion of the rod.

2. A back washer attachment comprising a clamp adapted to engage the side of a bath tub, a rod pivotally secured intermediate its ends to said clampand pivotally movable in a vertical plane about an axis substantially transverse to said rod, a handle secured to said rod at one end, said rod being provided at its other end with a portion extending transversely to the remainder thereof, and a back washer carried by said transversely extending portion, said handle and said washer being located at approximately the same distance from said pivot point so that the apparatus is substantially balanced disregarding the relative weights of the handle andl washer.

3. A back washer attachment comprising a clamp adapted to engage the side of a bath tub, a rod pivoted intermediate its ends to said clamp at a point such that when said clamp is-secured to a tub said rod extends substantially its full length closely adjacent the side of the tub to which said clamp is secured, said rod being pivotally movable about an axis substantially transverse to said rod in a substantially vertical plane extending longitudinally of the tub, a knob secured to said rod at one end thereof and serving as a handle for movement of said rod, the other end of said rod being disposed transversely with respect to the remainder thereof, and a back washing device secured to said transversely ex tending portion of the rod.

, 4. A back washer attachment comprising a4 clamp adapted to engage the side of a bath tub, a rod pivoted intermediate its ends to said clamp at a point such that when said clamp is secured to a tub said rod extends substantially its full length closely adjacent the side of the tub to which said clamp is secured, said rod being pivotally movable about an axis substantially transverse to said rod in a substantially vertical plane extending longitudinally of the tub, a knob secured to said rod at oneend thereof and serving as a handle for movement of said rod, the other end-of said rod being disposed transversely withA respect to the remainder thereof, and a back washing device secured to said transversely extending portion-of the rod, the radial distance of the back engaging surface of said washing device from said pivot point being substantially lside edge of a tub of the type having a rolled upper edge and a clamping block curved to engage the under surface of said rolled upper edge,

a rod pivoted to said clamp at a point such that when said clamp is secured to a tub said rod extends substantially its full length closely adjacent the side of the tub to which said clamp u is secured, said rod being pivotably movable about an axis substantially transverse to said rod in a substantially vertical plane extending 1ongitudinally of the tub, said rod being provided with a handle portion and a portion disposed transversely with respect to the remainder thereof, and a brush secured to said transversely extending portion of the rod.

6. A bath Ibrush attachment comprising a clamp adapted to engage the side of a bath tub, said clamp comprising two opposed clamping members adjustably secured to each other, and individual clamping means carried by one of said clamping means for completing the clamp- 15 ing operation after the relative position of said clamping members has been adjusted to conform approximately with the thickness of the side of thebath tub, a rod pivoted to said clamp at a point suchthat when said clamp is secured to longitudinally of the tub, said rod being provided with a handle portion and a portion disposed transversely with respect to the remainder thereof, and a brush secured'to said transversely extending portion of the rod.

- BERT E. LARGE. 

